In this episode, we discuss what Weeks refers to as the “the diagnostic and deconstructive dimensions of the critical theory of work”. We do this in three stages: the evolution of the Work Ethic, the contradictions which reveal vulnerabilities in the Work Ethic, and our professional take on Chapter One.
In our discussion on the ever-evolving Work Ethic, we divide our analyses up into the sub-themes of:
- Work for Means
- Work for Salvation
- Work for Social Mobility
- Work for Meaning
We talk about how the goalposts of the Work Ethic needed to constantly move in order to support the sustained growth demands of capitalism as it, too, evolved throughout history.
In the second section, we explore 5 antinomies which Weeks argues are the key contradictions that reveal the weaknesses of the Work Ethic. These antinomies consist of competing conclusions between:
- the rational vs. the irrational
- the producer vs. the consumer
- worker independence vs. worker dependence
- subordination vs. insubordination as part of the class struggle
- homogenization vs. differentiation of gender and race
In the third section of the episode we move on to discuss our professional take on various aspects of Chapter One. Nancy discusses the dangers in conflating the disciplines of business management and organizational psychology. She highlights how despite working in similar settings, their key areas of research are often very far apart. Benedetta reflects on consumer culture and the monetization of free time, to the point of transforming consumption into a form of leisure. She also talks about the co-evolution of display techniques in the retail business and exhibition spaces.
Question of the Episode: Who Do You Think You Are?
Personality tests, and the application of their ‘findings’, are problematic much of the time. While all Personality Tests can be fun, there is little science to support any other than those which use Big Five or HEXACO inventories. See Works Cited list for more.
Art of the Episode: Bliz-aard Ball Sale by David Hammons.
This work consisted of a sale of snowballs, in 1983, probably shortly after a 13 February snow storm in New York City. Hammons set up in Cooper Square, next to other street vendors, putting a blanket on the floor, with a beautiful north African pattern, and he neatly lined on the blanket a series of snowballs of different sizes, organized in lines of the smallest one at the front and the growing in size till the back where the biggest ones were.
Works cited
Weeks, K. (2011). The Problem with Work. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822394723
Filipovic, E. (2017), Bliz-aard Ball Sale. Afterall Books/One Work.
Han, B. (2024). The crisis of narration. Polity.
Higgs, K. (2021). A Brief History of Consumer Culture.
World Economic Forum. (2020). The Global Social Mobility Report 2020.
Big Five Personality Test - Open-Source Psychometrics Project
Cover artwork by Simone Hutsch from Unsplash.
Music by Tech Oasis from Pixabay.
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